UVI Shade is a filter and EQ with tons of creative modulation possibilities
The multi-effect tool features nine types of modulation and 35 filter types
Producers looking to push the boundaries of their EQing and filtering might find joy in UVI’s latest plug-in, Shade.
The multi-faceted plug-in looks like it takes inspiration from Ableton Live and Bitwig, sporting a series of modulation inserts along the bottom panel, which you can add and remove at will with a drag and drop workflow. In total, there are nine modules including LFO, Follower, Figure, MSEG, Spread, Envelope, Random Macro and XY. These can be routed in a plethora of ways, with cross-modulation, sidechain, customisable envelope triggering and more available across every parameter in Shade.
Some of UVI Shade’s modulators will be familiar to most users – LFO and Envelope, for example, are straightforward generators. Modules like Follower are a little more interesting, which is an envelope follower driven by input, sidechain or the spectral band of filters, creating any type of dynamic effect within Shade. Figure is an advanced LFO that is ‘two-dimensional’, allowing complex shapes with up to 8 vertices and support for rotation. MSEG (multi-step envelope generator) offers quick automation of an envelope, with a customisable grid and drawing modes. X/Y is a classic XY pad modulator to morph multiple parameters, which can be controlled with an external joystick.
If the number of modulation possibilities wasn’t enough to pique your interest, how about the 35 filter types within Shade? There is a wide array of low pass, high pass, low shelf, high shelf, notch, bandpass, phaser and comb filters, plus a multi-mode expander. Alongside the standard digital filters, you’ll also get analogue-modelled nonlinear filter shapes and some quirky multi-resonant ones, too.
According to UVI, “resonant filters have discrete Q-Up and Q-Down controls, and all shelf and peak shapes provide fully-continuous slopes up to 2000dB/octave”. This should all keep you entertained and inventive for a little while, at the very least.
UVI Shade is available at an introductory price of $/€79, moving up to $/€129 after the 31 October 2020. The plug-in is compatible with macOS 10.9 and above and Windows 7 and above, in VST, AU and AAX formats.
Find out more at uvi.net
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